Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton's Contrasting Views About Future American Society

History: Unit 3 Discussion
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Instructor’s Name
Date
During the beginning of the nineteenth century, Americans developed an endless ambition of becoming successful in business. Such an ambition led to the United States integrating technologies made available during the Industrial Revolution to a new form of commercial economy known as the “market revolution.” The new economy relied on steam power to fuel the growth of America’s industrial production through powering mills and creating new transportation systems. While the market revolution sparked the country's economy, the lower class workers without property increased and many labors earned low wages thus trapping them in cyclic poverty. Some workers could work for thirteen hours a day for six days a week. Since workers were required in factories, the northern states that had given up on slavery renewed their appetite for slave labor that led to the spiraling of the market revolution and the eventual rise of the Cotton Kingdom. In summary, the market revolution turned the United States into a totally new system of slavery, free labor, and wealth inequality. This paper argues that while Hamilton would have approved of the results of the market revolution and the role of King Cotton, Jefferson would have rejected and expressed disproval of the revolution and the rise of the factory system due to his contrasting vision of America as a society of small farmers.[The American YAWP. “8. The Market Revolution” /text/08-the-market-revolution/] [The Market Revolution] [Ibid]
Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton envisioned America's future as a robust commercial, industrial, and a metropolitan society. The two men emulated the policies of President Washington, but Hamilton presented the most lasting and appealing vision of Americans than Jefferson’s dream of a nation comprised of small farmers. During Washington’s presidency, Hamilton served as the secretary of the treasury, and both shared a common viewpoint of promoting America’s prosperity through industrial production. However, Jefferson was appointed to serve as the secretary of state since he was at the forefront of preserving an agricultural economy and protecting a serene republic of the small farmers. He envisioned a nation that has control over its land and reaping the harvest of free, honest, and self-suffici...